.17 HMR Rifle

[Tony UK]

Hi to every one, I live in the UK and i have just brought a .17 HMR rifle , I decided to go for the CZ 452 heavy barrelled Varmint rifle. I also own a ruger 10/22 STD which i use to control rabbits on a freinds farm for which the ruger is great. But I wanted to shoot out to longer ranges, and also i want to shoot foxes i am hoping that the CZ .17HMR will do the job. Can any body give me any info to what sort of ranges the .17 HMR will humanely despatch foxes.
Regards Tony UK

 

[UWstudent]

you need a sw .500

haha, just kidding but i did own a heritage .17 (cheap revolver) for a couple months and i enjoyed it, very accurate and pretty loud.. i would think it could put a fox down

PS. welcome to THR

 

[f4t9r]

It will put down a Fox.
With out any facts other then I have shot some Ground hogs this far away Im gonna say 75 - 100 yards with a decent scope

 

[R.W.Dale]

I killed a young grey squirell at 110 yds the other day using the 20gr Gamepoint load. He fell out and hit the ground like a rock

 

[MechAg94]

My Dad said he has popped a crow from a couple hundred yards across a pasture. It will do the job within its limits.

 

[adaman04]

For a fox, I would recommend the 20 gr. gamepoint and I would say 150 yards would be a safe shot. That is for a shot behind the shoulder in the vitals.

 

[Tony UK]

.17 hmr AMMO

So far i have only used CCI TNT .17 17 Grain rounds in my CZ 452 heavy barrelled varmint Rifle, has any body tested any other ammo. The cci Ammo is the cheapest at the moment hear in the UK.Has any body used other ammo such as the Hornady round or the Federal round in the CZ452, If so which do you consider to be the best alrounder for vermin control (rabbits to foxes).Some people tell me i should clean the rifle bore after as littel as 20 shots is this about right to keep the rifle accurate.
Tony uk

 

[sydn]

Tony,
I,ve used the identical rifle to yours on two prairie dog hunts in Montana and have killed dogs out as far as 240 yards. The 17 hmr does very well out to 200yds, if the wind is low. Even moderate winds can cause significant drift at long range. I don't know how big a fox is in relation to a prairie dog. Zeroed at 100 yds, it drops 8 inches at 200.

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

Tony,

I've had the best luck with the Hornady ammo. I tried the CCI stuff and out of two boxes, I had a couple rounds stick in the chamber of my Savage. When I popped them out, the case necks were split. Also, the Hornady is more accurate in my rifle.

 

[Elkslayer]

I have the same CZ 452 Varmint in 17 HMR. I haven't shot it a lot (about 150 rounds) but from what I have learned on RimfireCentral.com you don't need to clean it as often as you have been told. I clean mine after each session at the shooting range but others report upwards of 500 rounds between serious cleaning with just running a boresnake down the barrel after a hundred rounds or so.

Now the 17 Rem is another issue, because it is overbore it does need to be cleaned frequently (like every 25 to 50 rounds or so I'm told).